FAMOUS for 15 minutes, king for a day . . .

FAMOUS for 15 minutes, king for a day . . . whatever you want to call it, that was John Buckingham on April 8 1967.

The popular jump jockey may never have reached the heights of contemporaries like Josh Gifford and Terry Biddlecombe or latter day heroes in the mould of John Francome and Peter Scudamore, but he achieved something they never did, he won the Grand National.

And he did it in one of the most extraordinary races in the Aintree spectacular's rich history, aboard an unlikely hero in Foinavon.

On the day of the 1967 race, Buckingham was booked to ride three horses at Worcester. His aim was to catch the National on TV between races.

But while preparing for his uncle's funeral the jockey took a call from trainer John Kempton asking if he would be free to partner Foinavon at Aintree.

It wasn't until the following day that he learned two other jockeys had also been offered the ride.

Both had declined. The "present" they expected of #200 was considered unrealistic by owner Cyril Watkins because he reckoned the horse wouldn't get beyond the first few fences.

He did, however, tell Buckingham that he would pay any extra according to how the horse performed. A safe bet!

After spending the night sleeping on two chairs pushed together at digs close to Melling Road, John arrived at Aintree to discover just what little chance he had of winning the National - neither Foinavon's owner nor trainer had bothered to turn up.

The rest, as they say, is history. A loose horse, the aptly named Popham Down, cut across the smallest fence on the course, the 23rd, causing such mayhem that the race was virtually brought to a standstill.

Well detached from the main group the ice cool Buckingham threaded his way through the battlefield, spotted a small gap and began an anxious trek to the finish that saw the 100-1 shot beat the remounted Honey End by 15 lengths.

The story of Buckingham is recalled in Kings For A Day, Aintree's Bravest Sons ( Mainstream Publishing #15.99) by Liverpool author Reg Green, the world's outstanding authority on the Grand National.

While most people can remember the winning horses, the men who rode them are often forgotten.

Reg tells the National-winning jockeys' stories, every one he has seen 'live' since sitting perched on his dad's shoulders as an eightyearold at Becher's Brook in 1946. He hasn't missed a National since.

The first was Bobby Petre who returned from the War to partner Lovely Cottage to victory in front of a 300,000 crowd, there expecting to see Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Prince Regent triumph.

The Scots Guards officer later became a trainer and while supervising beach work from a low breakwater he fell damaging his leg so badly it had to be amputated.

Not long after, one of his horses was found to have been doped at a meeting and, though miles away at the time, Petre was held responsible and lost his licence. When the rules regarding illegal substances were changed, he was welcomed back to the racecourse.

Other fascinating stories include that of Bobby Beasley who, in riding the 1961 winner Nicolaus Silver - the last grey to win the National - emulated his grandfather's success of 70 years earlier.

There's Brian Fletcher, one of only a pair of riders to partner three winners during the 20th Century, with his victories aboard Red Alligator and Red Rum, and of course Bob Champion who defied the odds aboard Aldaniti in 1981.

As with Reg Green's previous trio of Grand National books, this latest one is meticulously researched and written with passion and an affinity with his subject. It's more than a reference book.